Fridge explosion turns house into 'bomb site'
When Kathy Cullingworth was woken in the early hours by a terrifying bang, her first thought was that a bomb had gone off. But when she rushed downstairs to investigate with her son Antony she discovered that her fridge had blown up, blasting off its doors and causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.
Radiators were ripped from their fixings, ceilings and walls were cracked and cupboards were destroyed, with food strewn across the kitchen. But experts are at a loss to explain why it happened.
Miss Cullingworth, 55, of Normanton, West Yorkshire, said: ‘There was an almighty explosion and the whole house shook – it felt like an earthquake. ‘I thought that a bomb had gone off, or that a lorry had run into my house. I could hear glass smashing downstairs. ‘We peered into the hallway and saw that the radiator had come away from the wall, the lamp shade had cracked into the wall and there were ornaments smashed on the floor. I was in a state of panic.’ The fridge exploded smashing windows and destroying crockery
She tried to open the kitchen door but something was wedging it shut. Antony, 28, forced it open and they found the source of the uproar. Miss Cullingworth, a secretary for the NHS, said: ‘The doors of the fridge had come clean off and had been catapulted to the other side of the room.
‘There was food everywhere, the microwave was damaged and most of my kitchen cupboards. ‘We rang the fire brigade and after they had examined everything they couldn’t tell me what had happened – the fire officer said in 30 years he had never seen anything like it.’
The Creda integrated fridge freezer was installed in 2001 and was under warranty. Miss Cullingworth has contacted the manufacturer but it has yet to collect the fridge. Miss Cullingworth said: ‘It just had fresh food and vegetables in it – no alcohol or fizzy drinks that could have fermented or blown up. If either of us had been in the kitchen, we wouldn’t just be dead, we would be in pieces.’
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19th August 2009, 06:56 PM
